Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Callous disregard...

"...Pettigrew was riding her bike southbound, just south of Campus Way in Largo, when a 2005 Cadillac Escalade, also headed south, struck her, said Greg Shipley, spokesman for the Maryland State Police.

The SUV did not stop. A severely injured Pettigrew was taken to Prince George's Hospital Center. While police were at the scene of the accident, the SUV driver, Christy R. Littleford, 41, of Upper Marlboro, called Prince George's County Police to report that she had struck something.

Littleford told police she assumed she had hit an animal but when she arrived home found a bicycle lodged under her vehicle, Shipley said..."

6 comments:

Wow. The callous disregard for other living things shown by motorists continues to amaze me. "Thought she had hit an animal?"

I've hit animals that darted in front of my car, and rued it every time. Knew what manner of animal it was every time, too. The one dog I hit was clearly a family pet, and I stopped to find the owner and tell that family what had happened. It was heartbreaking, true, and very hard to tell someone that his four-legged family member wasn't going to come home alive. It was also part of the responsibility that comes with operating a motor vehicle.

Decades ago, I hit a raccoon while driving between Buffalo and Elmira, N.Y. on a dark and crappy night on the way to go deer hunting. Tracked it into the field to check on it. Its back was broken and torn open and it was bleeding profusely as it slowly dragged itself along. I went back to the car for my handgun and killed it, which seemed like the most humane thing to do at that point.

That still bothers me, as does any senseless loss of life whether human or otherwise. The idea that you can use "I thought it was an animal" to simply drive away is sickening. Shit, hitting a human being means hitting a LARGE animal. Just drive away?